Wiping attachment for phonographs



March 1944- H. F. WHEELER WIPING' ATTACHMENT FOR PHONOGRAPHS Filed Sept. 20, 1943 IN V EN TOR.

H.F. WHEELER GUM (W-@MJLLQ ATTORNEY.

Patented t. 1, 1944 UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE wrrmo s'rraonmnnrron rnonocaarns Henry Wheeler, Richmond nemm, Mo., u

lignor of one-half to A. Edward I mond Heigh Application so far as I am aware, it has not been satisfactoril solved by any prior invention in this art. The ordinary user of such records will not resort to any substantial trouble or expense to remove the destructive dust, grit, etc., from the fine grooves.

Consequently, any plan for-troublesome, complex,

'inFiguresI'andZ.

Gross, ltioh m a to, 1943, serial no. this a s Claims. (c1. 21H!) Fig 318 a detail view of the attachment shown Fig. 4 is a view similar a; Fig. '2 illustrating another form of the invention. 1

- Fig. 5 is a detail view of the attachment shown in'Fig. 5.

Fig. 1 shows a phonograph having a rotary table ll to receive a rotary-record Ii, anda reproducer arm. or tone arm, I! pivoted at It. said arm being-provided with asuitable needle or stylus ll contacting with the record as-shown in Fig. 2. It will be understood that the point or expensive cleansing devices would fail to overcome an outstanding phase of the old problem.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to produce an extremely simple and very inexpensive attachment having properties which enable it to positively removeand collect the minute destructive particles while the record is in service, without requiring any substantial degree of attention from the .user of the phonograph. In other words, my ultimate solution of this very old problem is based upon extreme simplicity and low cost, coupled with very high efficiency under conditions which require no sub-' stantial efiorts on the part of the user. All of these factors have resulted inan entirely feasi- 'ble commercial article having outstanding merits not found in any prior attempt to solve this perpiexingold problem.

with the foregoing and other objects in view. the invention comprises the novel construction, combination and arrangement of details herein shown to illustrate desirable forms of the invention. However, this disclosure will lead others to numerous variations oi! the new concept, so it is to be understood that the scope of the patentextends to all variations and modifications described by the claims hereunto appended.-

. elements-of the reproducer arm. as Fig.2.

Fig. l is [a top view of a phonograph equipped with an attachment embodying invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side view, drawn to 9.

features ofthis larger scale, showing an end portion of the reproducer arm and a wiping attachment carried thereby to collect fine particles from the grooved of theneedle travels in a spiral groove in the record, and that the reproducer arm I! will travel toward the center of. the record in response to rotary movements of the table II. a In Figures 1 and 2, the free end of the reproducer arm- 12 is provided-witlra set screw is to secure the needle ll, said set screw having a head I. in" the form of a. button separated from the body portion of the-reproducer arm.

.The wiping attachment l'l shown in Figures .-1,' 2 and 3 is in the form. of an elongated sheet of yieldable fibrous materiaL-preferably a sheet of wool felt or hair felt, adapted to interlock withthe traveling reproducer arm II. This, fi-

brous sheet may be provided with a suitable opening J! to receive portions of said traveling arm, and abutments at said opening to detachably secure the fibrous sheet to the traveling arm. For example, the opening it in Fig.3 mayv be in the form of a button hole, or vertically elongated slot. and the screw head I! will readily pass through this opening l8 to, loosely secure the fibrous sheet ll between the body portion of the arm I! and the head It. The fibrous sheet is thus loosely interlocked with the traveling reproducer arm, and it has oppositely disposed abutment faces at the slot is adapted to be firmly forced into frictional engagement with suggested in Special attention is directed to Fig.- 2 which illustrates conditions existing when the lower portion of "the yieldable wiping she t I! contacts with a record ii moving in the direction indicated by arrows in Figures land 2. This rotary movement of the record forcibly tiltsthe loose wiping sheet as suggested in Fig. 2, so as to tighten abutment faces of the sheet into forcible interlocking contact with elements I! and it of the traveling reproducer arm, at the same time forcing the deflected lowerportion of the sheet I! into firm wiping contact with the grooved face of the record-ll. The wiping sheet is thereby securely aaeass'v interlocked with the traveling arm and placed in readily removed and reversed in changing from a condition for forcible wiping contact with the rotating record.

Further study of Figures 2 and 8 will show that the approximately horizontal bottom margin of the wipingsheet' H has a pair of companion .wiping faces at opposite sides of said bottom margin. when the sheet is deflected, as shown in Fig. 2, only one of said wiping faces contacts with the record, while its companion bottom marginal wiping face is shifted-upwardly to an idle position entirely beyond the record.

It may be important to observe that fibers of the sheet H are exposed at all of its wiping faces, so as to receive and collect fine particles of material from grooves in the records, thereby one wiping edge to another.

The wiping devices herein shown are elongated to extend substantially beyond the periphery of the grooved portfims of the records. However, they could be square, or of any polygonal shape. to provide additional wiping margins.

As a desirable cooperative feature for commercial use, I have dipped the fibrous sheets into a parafiln solution. For example, one pound of parafiin wax may be dissolved in four gallons of gasoline to provide a. suitable solutransferring said fine particles to the fibrous sheet. Moreoven'the. fibrous sheet shown in Fig. 2 is removable and reversible to selectively locate the previously idle bottom wiping face in active wiping contact with the record, while locating the previously used wiping face, containing collected fine particles, in an idle posi- .tion entirely beyond the record.

Additional advantages appear when the yieldable wiping sheet has a plurality of wiping margins and an approximately central opening between said margins. For example, in Figures '1, 2 and 3,.the wiping sheet has a central. opening l8 midway between its approximately fiat top and bottom margins. This sheet can be veryreadily rotated around its central opening is, or around the set screw 01' the reproducer arm, so as to selectively locate anyone of its several marginal wiping faces in active contact with the record, while locating all of the other wiping faces in idle positions entirely beyond the record.

More specifically'stated, the extremely simple wiping device shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 has four separate and distinct fibrous wiping faces two at opposite sides of its top margin, and two at opposite sides of its bottom margin.

of these wiping faces has exposed fibers receive, collect and retain fine particles which I very efiiciently removed from grooves in e records, and when any one of the wiping faces is in active service, all of the other wiping faces are entirely beyond the record.

In Figures 1, 2 and 3, I have provided for use of the conventional set screw at the free end of the reproducer arm. However, the invention is not limited to this detail.

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate a suitable form of the invention wherein a wiping sheet l'| may be applieddirectly to the body of a reproducer arm II in a location behind the needle or stylus IL This sheet I1 is preferably madeof felt, or other suitable fibrous material, with fibers exposed at its peripheral wiping edges. However, its central opening II is relatively large to loosely receive the body portion of the reproducer arm. Frictional abutments are formed by the t p and bottom walls or said opening it, and these abutments will forcibly tion. This treatment tends to stiffen very fiexible fibrous sheets, and provides a relatively firm but resilient wiping contact at the records, as well as firm interlocking frictional contacts at the reproducer arm. The parafiin in the exposed mass of fibers seems to aid in collecting very minute grit particles from grooves in the records. However, the invention is not limited to this detail. except as specified in one or more of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a wiping attachment for the rotary records of a phonograph having a traveling reproducer arm, 'a sheet of fibrous material adapted to interlock with said traveling arm, said fibrous sheet having an opening to receive portions of said traveling arm and abutments at said opening to detachably secure the fibrous sheet to said arm, said fibrous sheet being provided with a bottom margin and a pair of companion wiping faces at opposite sides of said bottom margin, said sheet being tiltable in the direction of rotation of the record so as to locate one of said wiping faces in active wiping contact with the. rotary record while locating the companion wiping face in an idle position entirely beyond the record, said sheet being yieldable to force the selected wiping face into wiping contact with the record, and said fibrous sheet being removable and reversible to selectively locate the previously idle wiping face in contact with the record while locating the used wiping face in an idle position entirely beyond the record.

2. In a wiping attachment for the rotary records of aphonograph having a traveling reproducer arm, a sheet of fibrous material adaptedto interlock with said traveling arm, said fibrous sheet having an opening to loosely receive portions of said traveling arm and abutments at said opening to detachably secure the fibrous sheet to said arm, said fibrous sheet being provided with a bottom margin and a pair of companion wiping faces at opposite sides of said bottom margin, said sheet being tiltable in the direction of rotation of the record so as to locate one of said wiping faces in active wiping contact with the rotary record while locating. the companion wiping face in an idle position entirely beyond the record, said sheet being yieldable to force the selected wiping face into wiping contact with the record and at the same time tighten the tilted sheet into forcible interlocking contact with the reproducer arm, and said fibrous sheet being removable and reversible toselectively locate the previously idle wiping face in contact with the record while locating the used wiping face in an idle position entirely beyond the record.

3. In a wiping attachment for the rotary records of a phonograph having a traveling reproducer arm, a sheet of fibrous materiat adapted to interlock with said traveling arm,

asaassv said fibrous sheet having an opening to receive portions of said traveling arm and abutments at said opening to detachably secure the fibrous sheet to said arm, said fibrous sheet being provided with an approximately horizontal bottom margin and a pair of companion wiping faces at opposite sides of' said bottom margin, fibers of said sheet being exposed at said pair of com-' panionwiping faces to receive and collect fine particles of material from grooves of the record, thereby positively transferring said fine particles to the fibrous sheet,- said sheet being 1 previously idle wiping face in contact with the record while locating the .used wiping face containing collected fine particles in an idle position entirely beyond the record. I

4. In a wiping attachment for the rotary records of a phonograph having a traveling reproducer arm, a sheet of fibrous material adapted to detachably interlock with said'traveling arm, said fibrous sheet having an approximately central opening to receive portions of said traveling arm and frictional abutments adjacent to said opening to detachably secure the fibrous sheet to said arm, the periphery of said fibrous sheet being provided with a plurality of wiping faces adapted to frictionally engage the grooved faces of the rotary records, fibers of said sheet being exposed at the peripheral wiping faces to receive and collect fine particles of material from the grooves of the records, thereby positively transperipheral wiping faces in active wiping contact:

with the record while locating all of the other wiping faces in idle positions entirely beyond the record.' a

5. In a wiping attachment for the rotary records of a phonograph having a traveling reproducer arm, a sheetof fibrous material adapted to detachably interlock with said traveling arm, said fibrous sheet having an approximately central opening to receive portions of said traveling arm and frictional abutments adjacent to said opening to'detachably secure the fibrous sheet to said arm, said fibrous sheet being provided with a plurality of approximately fiat marginal portions adapted to frictionally "engage the grooved faces of the rotary records, fibers of said'sheet being exposed at said marginal portions to receive and collect fine particles of material from the grooves of the records, thereby positively transferring said fine particles to the fibrous sheen-each of said approximateb fiat wiping faces in idle positions entirely beyond the record, said fibrous sheet being 'yieldable to force the selected wiping face into wiping contact with the record and at the same time tighten saidfrictional abutments into firm interlocking contact with said traveling arm, and said fibrous sheet being rotatable around its" center and also reversible so as to selectively locate anyone of its several marginal wiping faces in active wiping contact with the record, while locating all of the other wiping faces in idle positions entirely beyond the record. I 6. ,In a wiping attachment for the rotary records of a phonograph having a traveling reproducer arm, a sheet .of fibrous material adapted to detachably interlock with said traveling arm, said fibrous sheet having an opening approxinately midway between its top and bottom margins to receive portions of said travelingnirm and frictional abutments at the top and bottom of said opening to detachably secure the fibrous sheet to said arm, said fibrous sheet being provided with approximately horizontal top and bottom margins adapted to frictionally engage the grooved faces of the rotary records, fibers of said sheet being exposed at said top and bottom] margins to receivejand collect fine particles of material from the grooves of the records, thereby positively transferring said fine particles to the fibrous sheet, each of said top and bottom marginshaving a pair of longitudinal wiping faces at opposite sides of-the fibrous sheet, each of said margins being tiltable in the direction of rotation of the record so as to locate one of said longitudinal wiping faces in active wiping contact with the record while locating all of the other wiping faces in idle positions entirely beyond the, record, said fibrous sheet being yieldtighten said frictional abutments into firm interlocking contact with said traveling arm, and said fibrous sheet being removable and reversible so as to selectively locate any one of its several long wiping faces in active wiping contact with the record, while locating the other wiping faces in idle positions entirely beyond the record.

7. In a wiping attachment for the rotary records of a phonograph havinga traveling reproducer arm, a sheet of fibrous felt adapted to detachably interlock with said traveling arm, said fibrous felt sheet having an opening approximately midway between its top and bottom margins to loosely receive portions of said traveling arm and frictional abutments at the top -andbottom of said opening to detachably secure the loose fibrous sheet to said arm, said sheet of felt being provided with approximately horizontal top and bottom margins adapted to frictionally engage the grooved faces of the rotary records, fibers of said felt being exposed at said top and bottom margins to receive and collect fine particies of material from the grooves of the records, thereby positively transferring said fine particles to the fibrous sheet, each of said top and bottom margins having a pair of longitudinal wiping faces at opposite sides of the fibrous sheet; each of said margins being tiltable in the direction of rotation of the record so as to locate one of said longitudinal wiping faces in active wiping contact with the record while locating all of the other wiping faces in idle positions entirely beyond the record, said fibrous sheet being yieldable sald frictional abutments -into firm interlocking contact with said traveling arm,and said fibrous sheetbei'ng rotatable on said arm, and also removable and reversible so as to selectively locate any one or its sev'eral longitudinal wiping races in active wiping contact with the record, while locating all of the other'wiping faces in idle positions entirely beyond the record.

8. In a'wiping attachment for the rotary records of a phonograph having a traveling reproducer arm. a sheet of fibrous material containing paraflln as astiflener, adapted to interlock with said traveling arm, said fibrous sheet havingan opening 't'oreceive portionsof said traveling arm and abutments at said opening to detachably secure the fibrous sheet to said arm, said fibrous sheet being provided with an approximately horizontal bottom margin and a pair of companion wiping faces atopposite sides 01 said bottom margin. iibers of said sheet containing .paraflin being exposed at said pair oi!v 154dle'wipingi'ace in contact with the record while locating the used wiping face in an idle position entirely beyond the record.

HENRY F. 

